Freakonomics Radio Podcast: Is The New Saudi Golf League A Birdie Or A Bogey?

 When was the last time that golf was controversial? When Tiger Woods' wife tried to hit him with a nine iron for repeated infidelities?

Golf is off the sports pages onto the front page of newspapers and websites in the last week. Why?

Photo by Kindel Media

 

Because 48 professional golfers, many of them members of the PGA Tour, have bolted to the LIV Golf Tour subsidized by the Saudi Arabia Sovereign Fund. 

Why would Saudis launch an expensive and lavish golf tour? They clearly don't know much about golf, given their recent interview with a British journalist.  

The prospect of making money seems as remote as me getting a hole-in-hole at my local golf course, where the Canadian geese laugh at me when they see my golf swing. 

Leave it to the folks at the Freakonomics Radio podcast to investigate and find an answer.

Freakonomics Radio, one of the most listened-to podcasts in the world, investigates the phenomenon known as "sportswashing" in this week's episode.

In ancient Rome, it was bread and circuses. Today, it’s a World Cup, an Olympics, and a new Saudi-backed golf league challenging the P.G.A. Tour that just began yesterday. Can a sporting event really repair a country’s reputation — or will it trigger the dreaded Streisand Effect?

In the episode, host Stephen Dubner speaks to a group of analysts, economists, and sports figures to find out what sportswashing is - and whether it even works.

Listen to "What Is Sportswashing (and Does It Work)?" and find a transcript at freakonomics.com or wherever you get podcasts. 

How much do you want to bet that LIV golfer Phil Mickelson will listen to this Freakonomics episode? Never mind, Phil has already bet a ton of money that you won't listen. So, make Phil pay up. Listen to this episode of Freakonomics Radio.